well historically the field is WIDE OPEN. The Ardennes offensive caught the US unprepared and the response was units moving in piecemeal with whatever they had. In fact the 740th Tank Battalion had all their tanks under repair (badly worn from the drive across France) and had to grab whatever was at the local Ordnance depot. That's how the first two M24 Chaffees in the First Army went from orientation machines right into combat. Anyway, the units had various models/styles of Shermans - that's what makes the Ardennes attractive to a modeler. Older units still had quite a few M4 and M4A1 with 75mm guns (like they landed in Normandy with), and many units had received the M4A1 with 76mm gun and Wet Stowage (like DD27 but with the narrow tracks). Newer units (like 9th Armored Div and 761st Tank Bn (CLD)) had drawn recent M4A3s with 75mm and/or 76mm guns (like the hull of DD45, but with the different turrets), and these tanks were in many units as replacement vehicles since fall '44. Tank battalion headquarters' assault gun platoons had the M4 and/or M4A3 with 105mm howitzer (like DD45). The first M4A3E8s made their appearance about the time the offensive began, but they didn't get common until 1945. Light tank companies and mech. cavalry units still had the little M5A1. So you can see that the opportunities are fascinating.
Point of trivia: the "whitewash" winter camouflage didn't appear until the counter offensive in January 1945. Most units were just too busy stopping the German advance to do anything but makeshift camo.
By the way, all the major types of tracked and towed tank destroyers saw action in the Bulge battle, the M10, the M36 and the M18 as well as the towed 3" guns.
Again, Andy is quite free to make some fun choices on what he will provide us! We just have to relax and enjoy.
Gary
